Unemployment Drops in the Eastern Sierra

Unemployment in the Eastern Sierra continues to hover near one in ten people in search of work, according to the State Employment Development Department.

With the Nation as a whole running at about the same rate of one in ten people out of a job, the latest numbers for California show the state at 12.1% for the month of December a slight drop from the revised 12.3% for November.

As seasonal employees went to work, Mono County unemployment dropped from 12.1% in November to 9.7% in December. This left 820 people out of work and looking in December. While there was a drop last month, December of 2009 was higher than the 7.2% unemployment of December 2008.

Inyo County unemployment stayed roughly the same for the month of December which registered 9.6% and 890 people looking for work, according to EDD. There may have be a slight drop in unemployment in December as the November unemployment was revised upward to 10%. A year before, in December of 2008, Inyo unemployment was listed at 8%.

With an uptick in seasonal employment, Mono County and Inyo County are now both coming in at about the same rate of one in ten people looking for work. Both counties are lower than the state average.

The unemployment numbers reflect people out of work and looking for work. The state doesnt list those that have taken pay cuts and furloughs and those that are working part time in the Eastern Sierra. Across California, the state calculates that 9% of people with jobs are working part time when they would rather work full time.